


Baby? Keith

by Darbinator1101



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Baby Keith (Voltron), Embarrassed Keith, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance is the only one experienced with babies, Orphan Keith (Voltron), alien alcohol, but only physically not mentally, diaper changes, i don't know how all to tag this so tags may change, pre-season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darbinator1101/pseuds/Darbinator1101
Summary: I wanted a fic where Keith gets turned into a baby physically but mentally doesn't change. Rated teen just to be safe and for language.





	1. Chapter 1

Keith sighed. He always got so bored at these diplomatic dinner parties that Allura and Shiro would make them all attend. He glanced around the room from the wall he was leaning against. Allura and Shiro were over talking to the royalty of this planet, some neon colored humanoids that honestly hurt to look at for too long. Thankfully the rest of the species was a bit more dull in color compared to them otherwise Keith would have a headache right now. He moved his gaze over to where Hunk was chatting up the chef at the food table. Hopefully something good would come of that and he could recreate some better food than food goo for them for a while. Pidge wasn't far from Hunk and looked just as bored as Keith considering there wasn't any tech on this planet they hadn't seen before. That just left Lance since Coran had already gone back to the castle; They didn't like to leave it unattended for long if they could help it. It took him a moment to spot Lance and when he did he rolled his eyes. Of course Lance was attempting to flirt with a group of the more female looking aliens. Keith briefly wondered if this species even had genders like they did. 

"You look rather bored. Can I offer you a drink?" Keith turned to see the alien that had approached him. They were purple in color and had a charming smile and held out one of two drinks to him. Not wanting to be rude and have to hear a lecture about it later, he took the drink with a small thanks.

He looked down into the cup to see it was a swirl of neon green and pink. Briefly he hoped it was actually safe for humans to drink, though it was rare they encountered something that wasn't. He quickly took a sip before the alien could notice anything wrong. It tasted like a lime margarita (Keith would be lying if he said he hadn't drank alcohol before back on earth) and he was impressed.

"Good stuff isn't it?" The alien chuckled at Keith's reaction. "I'll be honest it isn't easy to get a hold of, but for you" The alien winked and smirked and Keith was reminded of Lance. He then realized he was being flirted with and started to feel awkward.

He nodded and continued to sip the drink to avoid having to say anything. The alien took a big gulp of his own drink and sighed contentedly. 

"Man I love this stuff. Makes you feel about ten times younger!" They exclaimed. Keith was starting to feel a slight buzz and wondered if they were already drunk since it clearly didn't take much of this stuff. 

They stood there for around ten more minutes. The alien told Keith about other random drinks and probably illegal drugs they had on this planet while he simply nodded and hummed where appropriate. He honestly didn't care and just kept sipping the drink until it was empty. 

"Uh th-thats nice," crap was he slurring his words? Shiro was going to be pissed, "Well I better get going b-back to my team. Th-thanks for the drink."

He pushed up off the wall to stand up straight and almost stumbled. Yeah Shiro was going to be upset he had gone and gotten drunk on alien alcohol. It wasn't his fault though for not wanting to be rude!

He may as well just own up to it sooner rather than later though and slowly made his way over to Shiro.

"Hey Shirooo." Shiro turned to him questioningly.

"Keith?"

"I may have g-gotten drunk by accident." 

"By accident?" Shiro gave him a disappointed look just like he'd been expecting.

"I didn't want to be rude when they offered it to me!" 

Shiro sighed but let it go, instead looking concerned, "Do you want to head back to the castle? Because honestly you don't look great."

Keith was starting to feel more off than just being drunk and nodded, immediately regretting it when he felt dizzy. Shiro put an arm around him to steady him. He didn't catch what Shiro said to Allura before they started to head out. He saw Pidge and Hunk looking at him concerned, and Lance looked amused when they walked past.

As he started to feel worse, Shiro had to help him walk as they headed back to the castle. He tried his best answer Shiro's questions but it was hard to process. He passed out before they made it back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Is he ok!?"

"The scans all indicate he's healthy..."

"But what are we going to do?"

"Do you guys think he'll recognize us?"

"Shh! Guys he's waking up don't scare him."

Keith heard the voices of his friends as he started to come to. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision. He could see everyone looking down at him but they looked... bigger? He rubbed his eyes and looked again with a frown. 

"Hey buddy." Shiro said softly. He was standing in front of Keith and Keith sat up to look at him better. 

"Shiro?" Keith cleared his throat. His voice sounded way higher than normal. 

"Dude he knows Shiro!" Hunk said excitedly. "What about me? Do you remember my name?"

Keith turned to look up at Hunk, confused, "Why would I forget your name Hunk?"

Keith could feel everyone freeze around him. He then took a moment to actually take in where he was. He was definitely in the med bay but the bed he was on had clear walls around it and was completely flat, unlike the other beds where you could sit up. He guessed he should be thankful he hadn't needed to go into a pod. He looked at everyone in turn to see mixtures of shock, confusion, and relief. Finally he looked down at himself. His hands were way smaller and his arms were shorter and same with his feet and legs. He was also only wearing one thing that really concerned him.

"Um is there a reason I'm wearing a diaper?" he asked slowly. He supposed it wasn't unheard of to use diapers instead of catheters if one couldn't be used for whatever reason, but he feared he was wearing it for a reason that he didn't want to think about. 

Coran was the first to speak, "Ah well I'm afraid your a bit smaller than you were before. Got reverted back into a baby and we weren't quite sure how much you got affected."

"But we did run some tests and you are completely healthy otherwise..." Allura added.

Keith looked down at himself again, "How is this even possible?" 

"Not entirely sure yet but a lot has changed in 10,000 years." Coran replied, "But we're going to try and come up with something to reverse it as soon as we know more. Or it could just wear off on its own!"

"We assume it was that drink you had." Shiro finally spoke, still hesitant. 

"Yeah by the way Keith why did you get the crazy alien alcohol?" Lance pouted. Pidge kicked him in the shin, "ow hey just saying! Keith gets all the cool stuff."

"They did say it would make me feel younger." Keith bit out, starting to feel angry. "And yeah Lance being turned into a baby is so fucking cool!"

Shiro cut Lance off, "Let's not worry about that. Right now we know you're okay." 

"I don't suppose there are other clothes I can wear?" Keith pointed to the diaper as he spoke.

"I had to put that on you you know! Because apparently no one else here has ever changed a diaper before." Lance grumbled. 

"There is a nursery here in the castle. We might be able to find something that fits there." Allura said thoughtfully.

Keith stood up in a huff. He started to climb over one of the walls when he was suddenly picked up by Shiro.

When he wasn't put down but instead held against his shoulder Keith started to complain, "I can still walk you know!"

"It will be faster this way." Shiro spoke in his dad voice that Keith knew better than to argue with. He heard a laugh and looked up to see Lance snickering. He glared back as he felt his face get hot. 


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro carried Keith all the way to the nursery as Allura lead them to a floor of the castle they had really never had any reason to visit prior. The large nursery was brightly colored and well organized, a sure sign that it had not been used in a while. Various larger toys lined the wall along with toy chests and a bit of playground equipment. On the far wall reaching the ceiling was a large play structure with tubes to crawl into and a slide. On the wall opposite the toys there were doors leading to a storage room, a sleeping room full of cribs, a couple of bathrooms, and a locker room. 

They walked into the storage room Allura saying, "These drawers should contain clothing as well as other supplies we may find ourselves needing." She pulled out one of the drawers from the wall and gestured to it. 

Keith looked around with a sour look as Shiro walked into the room. Shelves full of diapers, bottles, formula, car seats (spaceship seats?), and more only helped to further cement that he was really in this mess. 

"Hey Keith how about these?" Keith turned to face forward as Lance held up a blue lion onsie with a grin. Keith glared back and tugged at Shiro to be let down. Shiro sighed, deciding it wasn't worth getting involved, and placed him on the ground before turning to evaluate some of the other supplies. Keith pulled open the lowest drawer and started digging through what he could reach, unfortunately most of which was clearly not made for humanoids. 

"Oh here's a red pair!" Hunk said with a smile. They weren't lion themed like the one Lance had found, rather just a pair of plain red footies, and Keith was somewhat relieved. 

Keith smiled up at Hunk,  "Yeah those look okay. Thank you." He glanced over at Lance to see him pouting and smirked. He turned back to Hunk, "So uh I don't suppose you've found any underwear?" He didn't really care what style because anything was better than the diaper he was currently stuck in. 

"Hate to break it to you Keith but they don't usually make undies that small. What are you like, barely one?" Lance knelt down and looked Keith over. 

"I am not wearing diapers." Keith deadpanned. 

"Well if you want to go commando no one's really stopping you." Lance replied with a shrug. 

"Well I really don't know if that's the best idea," Coran poked his head in through the doorway, "I read that human young take a few years to gain full control over most of their developing muscles much like Altean young. Though I suppose your only physically young- still better safe than sorry no?"

A blush grew on Keith's face as he processed what Coran was saying. He heard Lance stifle a laugh and Hunk looked apologetic.

"You- You think I might have an 'accident'!?" He exclaimed mortified. 

"Coran has a point." Shiro added.

"Keith its nothing to be embarrassed about." Allura smiled.

"Not like we weren't expecting it anyway when you were babyfied!" Pidge yelled from the main room. 

Keith sat down with an angry groan and tugged on the red pajamas. He was more irritated when they actually fit. Once he was dressed he stormed out of the storage room and received a look from Pidge, who had been examining the various toys. 

"Cheer up I found something I bet you'll like," Pidge's excited grin was enough to at least make him curious. Pidge certainly did not disappoint when they pulled out a hover-tricycle. "Get on I want to see how fast it goes before I make modifications."

Keith walked over and climbed up onto the trike. However any excitement he had drained back into frustration when his feet couldn't reach the pedals, the trike not designed to be ridden by babies. 

"Oh hang on..." Pidge popped open one a the panels and did something Keith couldn't see. Pidge closed the panel and moved to the handles, again doing something Keith didn't really understand. 

"Try twisting the handle." Pidge stepped to the side. Keith nodded and scooted to the edge of the seat to grab them. He twisted the right handle and the bike lurched forward faster than either of them were expecting, almost knocking him off the trike. 

Keith lit up and grinned at Pidge, who was equally happy, "Maybe I won't need to modify it after all. That thing moved!"

More prepared this time, Keith started the trike up again and began a lap around the nursery. 

"Hey what are you- WAAAAHH!" Lance screamed and lifted his leg out of the way in time for Keith to zoom under it, "Dude that's awesome! Is there anything to make a track?"

Lance spotted some over sized soft building blocks stacked up against the wall and ran over, "Hunk come on!"

"Shiro wants me to check out this formula and baby food to see if its still safe." Hunk called back. 

"Lame! Come on then Pidge."

"A track for what?" Shiro walked out curiously to see what they were up to and was met with the sight of Keith zipping around while Pidge and Lance started moving some of the blocks to the middle of the room. 

Shiro moved to stop Keith, "Keith you don't even fit properly on that! You're going to get hurt!"

A hand on his shoulder stopped him however. 

"He'll be fine Shiro," Allura said calmly, "After all he does have experience does he not? Altean children have always played with such toys and they were fine."

Shiro held back the comment on the clear differences between human children and altean children considering the first simulation they were thrown into and instead sighed.

"Alright I trust them. Lets get everything else sorted out while they play."

 Lance and Pidge made quick work of building a simple track to start out with and Keith maneuvered to the starting line. 

"Try not to knock any of them over mullet," Lance said teasingly. Keith typically would be more irritated at the nickname, but right now the normalcy of it was comforting. 

"I'll time you. On my mark... GO!" Keith took off as Pidge started the timer. The course was too easy and he navigated the turns without any problems. 

He arrived back where he started.

"20 ticks. Lance go make it harder."

"On it!"

After some blocks were added and shifted around Keith readied himself again. 

"On my mark... GO!"

This time the turns were sharper and Keith had some trouble turning them smoothly considering he really didn't fit on the trike. Still he had enough skill to compensate and managed not to knock anything over at the cost of moving slower. 

"40 ticks that time."

Lance looked mildly impressed and tried to hide it when he noticed Keith looking at him expectantly, "Alright it was obviously still way too easy and I'm going to fix that."

"Try that fighter pilot," Lance said smugly when he returned from making changes to the track. 

"On my mark... GO!" Pidge called for the third time.

Keith took off and was immediately forced to maneuver around blocks laid in the track. He got halfway through when he was met with block towers far too close together for the trike to fit through and crashed into them, knocking the towers down and missing the next turn. He stopped the trike and looked at Lance in disbelief.

"This thing won't turn sideways you know." Keith pointed out. 

"Not with that attitude it won't," Lance snickered. Pidge rolled their eyes with a smile. 

"Why don't we try out some of the other toys in here," Pidge suggested.

Keith hopped down from the trike and moved to join Pidge and Lance. They found some toys similar to those on earth, such as balls, miniature vehicles, and sets for playing pretend. Other toys they weren't entirely sure what they were at all. Other toys they discovered like the trike seemed much less regulated than those on earth. 

Keith pulled out a toy blaster from one of the chests. It was brightly colored and adorned with an unnecessary amount of lights. He looked it over and shrugged pointing it over at Lance, who was currently yelling at what looked like the altean version of a Bop-It, except that it seemed intent on consuming more of his arm everytime he failed to hit the correct part. What Keith expected to happen when he pulled the trigger was the toy would light up and make a bunch of noise as if to pretend he was actually shooting someone. 

"OW WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Lance jumped as he got hit with what felt like a small taser for a split second. 

Pidge laughed harder than Keith had heard in a while as he looked between the gun and Lance. 

"Keith seriously what!?" Lance looked at the 'toy' Keith was holding and was confused, "Did that actually..."

Keith nodded and fired it again, this time at the ground. They watched as electricity shot out and dissipated. 

"I think Alteans were a bit more relaxed on what they gave their children," Keith commented putting the blaster aside. 

"We didn't give Altean children anything that would put them in danger. That toy is perfectly safe." Coran said approaching them with some water pouches and snacks, "Now why don't you take a few ticks and have a break. Hunk is helping Shiro move a few things and Allura needed to return to the bridge so dinner will be a bit later than usual. I'm going to finish cleaning then head up myself but you three are welcome to stay down here for as long as you like."

"Do you know how to get this off?" Lance asked motioning to the toy consuming his arm. Coran laughed and after putting the items down he pressed a couple buttons on the toy and it returned to its original state. 

"Thanks Coran," Pidge manged to calm down enough to say. They put down the control panel toy they were dissembling and grabbed a pouch. Keith grabbed a pouch as well and began drinking it. Lance joined them as soon as he put the toy away and Coran returned to his cleaning. Keith wasn't a fan of the weird energy bars so he gave his to Lance. 

He took a minute as he sipped on his pouch to really look around. They certainly had left the place a mess. His eyes finally landed on the large structure in the back. It reminded him of what places like McDonalds would have for kids to play in while their parents ate. It had tubes to crawl in, some places to look out of, and a slide. They seemed pretty fun, not that he had ever gotten a chance to play in one. None of his guardians had ever taken him while he was still small enough. This one looked pretty big, though he guessed maybe that had to do with his current perspective. He wondered how far back it went since they could only see the front of it. 

Lance must've noticed him staring because out of nowhere he was saying, "Hey Keith I bet I can beat you to the top of the slide."

Keith broke out of his daze and turned to see Lance starting to stand up. He climbed to his feet as well. He would clearly fit in those easier than Lance would, but Lance probably had actually played in those before. Still he wasn't one to back down from a challenge and found himself saying, "We'll see."

Lance took off as soon as Keith spoke and beat him to the entrance. Keith wasn't concerned about catching up just yet and crawled in as well. Lance bypassed a couple of different off shoots and reached the part where the tube began a steady spiral upward. Keith almost laughed at how awkwardly Lance had to navigate inside the small space. Keith managed to pass him inside the spiraling tube by simply crawling under him. He continued along the path until it took him as high as possible and leveled out. He hoped there was only one way to go up here as he stood up and continued quickly following through a couple turns until he reached a tube that was really only a net. He gripped the side and tried to carefully walk across, hearing laughter behind him when he slipped and his leg fell though one of the gaps. Footie pajamas really weren't known for their traction. As he struggled to pull himself free Lance carefully passed him with some giggles, having no trouble with the net. Keith crawled the rest of the way over the net once he was free. He stayed on Lance's tail through another few bends and one more net until he saw Lance suddenly climb straight up. Keith looked to see a rectangular tube with platforms alternating sides. He entered and hoisted himself onto the first one and looked across to the next one. He realized he wasn't going to catch up to Lance- if he was even big enough to get through this part at all. He reached across and up to see if he could even reach the next one, which he could, but he would have to pull himself up quite a bit to get on it. He looked to see how many of these he would have to climb and counted three more aside from the one he was standing on. 

"I win!" He heard Lance call from above. He saw Lance appear in the spaces between the platforms as he was looking up. 

"Oh yeah I guess that would be a little tough wouldn't it," Lance frowned slightly noticing how Keith couldn't reasonably reach the next platform. Keith watched as Lance wormed his way back down to where he was. 

"I can admit this part isn't fair, but I still beat you to this point," Lance grinned. 

"Yeah whatever," Keith huffed, turning to start to go back down.

"Hey don't you want to go down the slide?"

"I can't get up Lance," well he probably could if he tried hard enough but it wasn't worth that kind of effort. 

"Sure you can," Keith felt an arm wrap around him and the next thing he knew he was being carried upward as Lance worked his way back up. He was placed down again at the top. 

He blushed and crossed his arms with a muttered, "Thanks."

"I get to go down first since I won," Lance declared moving toward the slide. Keith quietly followed. Now that he was at the top he could see that the covered slide was a straight shot to the bottom. 

"Let you know when you can go," Lance said before shooting down with a 'whoop'.

Keith sat at the top until he got the okay from Lance that he was clear. He pushed off and began sliding, picking up speed quickly, faster than he was expecting to go. Once again, pajamas weren't known for their traction. He braced himself for a rough landing as he shot out the end of the slide, only to have a much gentler one.

He opened his eyes to see that he'd been caught by Lance, who was smiling at him and not at all panicked.

"Had a feeling that might happen so that's also why I wanted to go down first," Lance explained setting Keith down and he got the feeling that Lance had experience with this sort of stuff, "Let's go again but I want to see if I can go faster too."

He watched as Lance ran into the room meant for sleeping in and returned with a blanket. 

"Come on Keith," Lance said as he excitedly crawled into the entrance again. Keith followed but didn't try to pass him this time and found Lance waiting for him when he got to the platforms once more. He let Lance help him up without complaint and then watched to see what Lance would do with the blanket. Lance sat on the blanket to go down the slide and Keith understood now.

Lance went down much faster on the blanket and Keith heard the dull thud when he landed. 

"All right! Now that's what I'm talking about! Keith just wait up there okay?"

"Okay," He called back down. It didn't take long for Lance to climb back up with a giddy expression. 

Lance put the blanket down again and sat on it. 

"Come here you gotta try it," Lance said twisting around.

Keith moved closer confused, about to ask how he was supposed to do that when Lance was already sitting on the blanket when Lance scooped him up and he was sitting in his lap. Lance secured an arm around him and pushed off. They flew down the slide together, possibly faster than Keith had went on his own but he had no way to tell. They landed with a thud, Keith gripping Lance's arm just to make sure even though he could feel that Lance wasn't going to let go. 

"Isn't that great?" Lance asked looking down at Keith and removing his arm. Keith couldn't help the smile on his face even as he turned so Lance couldn't see it. 

However that smile quickly turned to panic as Keith shifted to get up off Lance. He started to feel wet and instinctively grabbed at his crotch to try and control it, but he couldn't stop. He was having an accident and he hadn't even noticed he needed to go in the first place. He blushed and started to tear up as he also realized there was no way to keep it from Lance. 


	4. Chapter 4

"...Keith are you alright?"

Keith finally turned to look up at Lance, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. It was a stupid reaction to have, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd cried. He guessed it had to just be a physical reaction to his distress. 

Lance looked at him oddly before registering how Keith was still holding himself. He scratched the bad of his head awkwardly.

"Well I mean that _is_ what diapers are for. It's not really a big deal and its not like you made a mess or anything..." Lance stood without warning, picking Keith up with him and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Lucky for you I'm a professional so this won't take long." 

Keith wasn't entirely sure what Lance meant by that so instead he said, "You mean you aren't going to make fun of me for pissing my pants?"

Lance walked over to one of the bathrooms and set Keith down on the changing table. 

"If you were yourself, maybe, but you've kinda got an excuse here dude," Lance gestured to all of Keith, "Besides, a diaper's kinda different than just going in your pants anyway," Lance rambled as he opened a cabinet and got a clean diaper and some wipes, "I mean it's not like I wasn't expecting to have to do this you know? Its just kinda more weird now. But its probably still easier this way since I'm sure it would take you forever by yourself..."  He looked at some of the containers but didn't want to take the time to figure out which ones were for preventing diaper rash. He could figure that out later. 

Keith blushed at what Lance was saying. Despite this he crossed his arms and stared at Lance when he turned back to face Keith declaring, "You aren't changing me."

"Have you ever even changed a diaper before?" Lance put a hand on his hip and met Keith's eyes.

"That doesn't mean I can't do it myself!"

"I never said you couldn't! I just think it will take too long!"

"How do you know!?"

"Because I could've had this done already!" Lance slammed the diaper and wipes onto the changing table, "But fine lets see you do it yourself then." Lance stepped back and leaned against the sink watching.

"Can't I have some p-privacy at l-least?" Keith managed to get the words out as he frantically scrubbed at tears threatening to fall.

Lance sighed, "It's not like we don't change in the locker room together all the time." Still, he turned around to face away. 

Keith mumbled about that being different and also turned to face away as he started to take his onesie off. He double checked that it wasn't wet before putting it aside. Getting the old diaper off was easy and he balled it up carefully. He then set about cleaning himself up with the wipes and soon realized he shouldn't have balled up the diaper yet because he could have put the wipes he used in it. He let out a noise of frustration and just set them on top instead. He the grabbed the clean diaper and unfolded it. 

"Are you done yet?" Lance asked impatiently. 

"I will be in a second," he snapped back as he started to pull the diaper on around himself. However he found he had a hard time keeping both the front and back of the diaper up while trying to secure the tabs. He sat down with a huff and tried again, securing one side only to feel that it was uneven when he tried to do the other. But it was technically on so he would just deal with it, "Fine done."

Lance turned around again and scoffed at the sight, "That won't stop leaks unless it's on straight. Just let me fix it already. Lay down it'll take me like two seconds."

Keith was going to retort but he considered that he was in this mess because he'd had an accident in the first place. He didn't need to be even more embarrassed by having it leak plus it was slightly uncomfortable this way. He didn't want to deal with this anymore. This was embarrassing and frustrating. 

"Hey don't... I'm sorry." Keith blinked up at Lance who looked concerned and guilty. That was when he felt a tear drip off his chin. He hadn't felt himself crying.

"I won't do anything if you really don't want me to."

Keith didn't try to stop the tears as he laid down to let Lance fix it, "Just don't tell anyone," he whimpered.

Lance nodded and made quick work of fixing the diaper as promised. He also threw away the wipes and the old diaper. 

Keith pulled on his clothes while Lance washed his hands. He guessed he should probably do that too.

"Lance?" He felt too drained and resigned at this point to care about asking for help and held up his hands when Lance looked over. 

"Right." Lance moved him over to the sink and set him down on the counter so he could wash his hands too. 

Lance put him down on the ground when he was done and they both left the bathroom, glad to see that Pidge had run off somewhere. 

"Do you want a few minutes before we go up too?" Lance asked quietly. Keith nodded and made his way into the room with the cribs just so he wouldn't have to be in the same room as Lance for a while. Lance didn't follow him and instead sat down and busied himself with looking through another box of toys. 

Once he was in there Keith let out a yell. He kicked at one of the cribs and yelled again when his foot hurt. He didn't try to stop himself from crying but the fact that he was only made him even more upset. He yanked open the bottom drawer of the dresser and grabbed at the blankets folded inside, throwing them out and onto the ground while sobbing. He angrily pulled over a container of stuffed animals, dumping it on the ground and began throwing them at the wall. What finally stopped him was when he picked up a purple stuffed animal that looked like a hippo with an extra set of legs. It was a lot like the one he had as a kid until one of his foster parents had thrown it away, claiming it was ratty and he was too old to have something like that anymore. 

Keith sat down and hugged the stuffed toy tight, it being only slightly smaller than he was currently. His sobs quieted and within minutes he fell over asleep, cuddling the hippo. 

Lance quietly walked over from where he had been watching Keith have his tantrum, the other paladin not having noticed him. He gently scooped Keith up, careful not to disturb him or move the toy from his grip. He glanced around the messy room and sighed before heading to join the others. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard Keith likes hippos so...
> 
> I really appreciate all the positive comments! Sorry I can't update regularly DX


	5. Chapter 5

"I still don't see why he can't stay in your room, if he has to stay in someone's room."

"Lance I just explained this, your have the most experience and you two seemed to be getting along well."

"Shiro, the crib is bad enough but having to also stay with someone? That someone being **me**?"

"Guys quiet down you're waking him up."

Keith turned to face into the warmth as he tried to block out the voices and go back to sleep. He felt exhausted and was only vaguely aware that it didn't feel like he was in his bed. The voices only got a bit quieter.

"It's alright Hunk, he needs to wake up soon for dinner anyway."

"That's a terrible idea. He isn't going to feel good after crying himself to sleep like he did. He's only been out for like, 45 minutes."

Whatever he was laying on moved a little and Keith startled, waking up more fully. They were right, he didn't feel great. His head hurt and he still felt rather upset. 

"Well too late now, he's awake." Hunk did not sound happy.

Keith tried to shake off the feelings and sit up, but stopped, confused, when he looked up to see Hunk- holding him? Cradling him. Hunk was cradling him. He groaned as everything came back to him. 

"Told you." Lance said before plopping down on the couch next to them. 

"How are you feeling, Keith?" Shiro asked, sitting across from them. 

Hunk helped Keith sit up and he pressed a hand to his head, "I've felt worse."

Shiro gave a nod and addressed Hunk, "So what's the status on the baby food we found?"

"No-go except for the dry formula," Hunk said disappointed, "I guess it wasn't packaged to last 10,000 years."

"Aw man. And I was hoping for something other than goo tonight." Lance whined. "When are we going to resupply already?" Even Keith had to admit he'd take the baby food over the goo at this point.

"Lance you know we don't have much money to spare." Shiro replied. This job didn't exactly get steady pay and now that the main currency was GAC, a lot of the money Allura and Coran did have was obsolete.

Lance sank down into the couch pouting. 

Keith decided to change the subject since he was wondering what they were saying when he was waking up, not having been listening at the time, "So what was Lance arguing about this time?"

Lance huffed, "Shiro decided we have to share a room."

"I would rather he be with someone since we don't know the full extent of his condition." Shiro explained.

Lance ignored him and looked at Keith, "He got you a crib. Your stuffed, six-legged, alien hippo is already in it."

"What the heck!" Keith shouted at Shiro, "A crib!?"

Shiro winced, "Well you are..."

"Knowing you, you'd just try to escape in the night. Maybe a crib will keep you in." Pidge hopped over the back of the couch and landed on the other side of Hunk with an amused smirk.

"I do not feel it is a bad idea either." Allura commented, walking to stand where they could all see her. "I believe it is time for dinner?"

"Yep! Now come before the goo gets- well actually I'm not sure it will change at all." Coran twisted his mustache thoughtfully as he stood behind Allura. 

Shiro stood, followed by the rest of them, Hunk carrying a disgruntled Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith dropped the hippo at some point during his sleep and they weren't sure if waking up with it would make the situation worse.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith was surprised they hadn't brought up a high chair for him at this point. However he couldn't sit normally either so instead he just sat on top of the table. No big deal. 

Shiro got his goo for him as well as a water pouch, same old same old. 

"Are you _sure_ that baby food was completely inedible?" Lance whined, looking at Hunk with a pout.

"I'm sure Lance. That stuff smelled rank."

Lance let out an exaggerated sigh but started to eat the goo anyway. 

Keith started eating his own and they were quiet until Shiro and Allura had finished and started to address the group. 

"I have contacted the planet and they have said nothing is known about the drug Keith may have ingested. They do not have anything like it on their planet naturally and try to monitor goods coming in closely." Allura informed them.

"Right, so that means we're going to have to look into this further ourselves and possibly visit some, less reputable marketplaces if we hope to get any information." Shiro added. 

Pidge looked excited at the mention of visiting some black markets. 

"Is there anything we can do here on the ship?" Keith asked, pushing his empty plate away.

"We can run more thorough tests for unusual chemicals in your system in the med bay, but it will be easier when we actually know what to look for. We only checked your vitals and for known life-threatening chemicals earlier." Allura answered, then continued hopefully, "There is still the possibility this will simply wear off when it leaves your system."

Everyone doubted this, even Allura. There was no reason for someone to target one of them with this if it was that simple.

Shiro cleared his throat, "Regardless, we've set route for one of the swap moons nearby. We should arrive in a day or so."

Hunk and Coran started collecting the dishes as Allura and Shiro began to discuss what to do about training in the meantime. Lance and Pidge started excitedly talking about things they might find on the swap moon. Keith climbed down off the table and onto his chair and from there to the floor.

Normally at this point he would either go train on his own or spend some quiet time in his room. He started walking away to go do the latter, because he could really use some time on his own after today. 

"Keith where are you going?" Shiro, ever observant, called him out as he was almost to the door. 

"To my room, is that a problem?" Keith said irritated. 

"I'd really prefer you're with someone." Shiro made it clear that wasn't a suggestion. 

"I'll watch him." Hunk said reappearing and giving Keith a sympathetic smile. 

It was better than Lance, and Hunk rarely bothered him so Keith nodded and waited for Hunk, heading back to the common room instead of his own room. It still wasn't what he wanted, but at least Hunk would give him quiet, pulling out his tablet to focus on. Keith stayed on the floor opposite him and closed his eyes to reflect on everything. 

As time passed Keith found it harder and harder to focus. His stomach was starting to hurt really bad and finally he crossed both arms over it, doubling over. 

"Keith? You alright there buddy?" Hunk asked, looking up from his tablet. 

Keith hesitated before just shaking his head no honestly. He couldn't tell if he was going to vomit, or mess his pants, or possibly both. 

Hunk came over and knelt down next to him, worried. 

"Bathroom," Keith managed to grunt out, because whatever was going to happen it was better it happen there. Hunk rushed to scoop him up and get to the bathroom, setting Keith down on the cool floor near the toilet when they arrived. 

"Do you feel like throwing up?" Hunk spoke fast, "Should I go get Shiro? Or maybe Lance?"

Keith just let out a pained whine and laid down, the cool tile feeling nice on his face. 

"I'm going to go get someone, just, stay here." Hunk left, closing the door slightly behind him. Not as if Keith was going anywhere anyway with how badly this hurt. 

Keith was glad Hunk had left and for the first and only time that he had a diaper on, because he doubted he would've made it to the toilet anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update! Might be a while before the next one with holidays and all that.   
> Goo is probably not meant for babies to eat considering how highly concentrated it must be with all the nutrients that adults need so their digestive systems wouldn't be able to process it well.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ok so no goo for Keith." Lance said, walking back into the kitchen where everyone was waiting. He had made them all leave to at least give Keith some privacy while he changed his diaper, "Unless I'm just weird I'm pretty sure it shouldn't look the same coming out as it did going in."

"Is he okay now?" Hunk asked concerned.

"He's laying down. He must have really felt awful since he didn't even say a word about me changing him." Lance answered, leaning on the back of his chair. 

"Hunk you said the formula was still good?" Shiro spoke up. 

"I mean I still feel fine from when I tried some of it," Hunk answered, "But I'm not a baby and if its like the goo maybe we shouldn't give it to him after all."

Shiro nodded, "We don't have anything else and Keith needs to eat something, so we'll have to take that risk. We can stock up on baby food when we land." 

"What about the snackish food we have?" Pidge offered, "Did he eat any from earlier?"

"No he only drank the water," Lance answered, "I know because I ate his."

"Those energy bars are just as highly concentrated, so I don't think that would be a good idea either Pidge. For now Keith can drink the formula. We should land sometime either tomorrow night or early the next morning. He should be alright until then." Shiro stood from his seat, "Its getting close to bedtime. I'll see you all in the morning."

Everyone said goodnights and went their separate ways to prepare for bed. Lance entered his room quietly to see Keith asleep in the crib, still not looking like he felt well. Lance had left his pajamas off, partly because he needed to grab clean ones but also so he wouldn't overheat, and Keith had kicked off the blanket. Lance decided not to risk waking him by pulling it back up and went about his nightly routine, forgoing the headphones tonight. 

 

* * *

 

It was dark when Keith woke up. He was starving and as he sat up he grimaced at the gross squish in his diaper. He stood carefully and approached the side of the crib, almost running into the side. He looked up to see how tall it was and any hope of getting out himself vanished. What crib had bars going over the top as well!? Had Shiro picked this one on purpose or did he not know about that feature?

He could see Lance sleeping through the bars and sighed as he came to the conclusion he'd have to either wake him up or try to go back to sleep until morning. 

"Lance?" No response.

"Lance!" Keith tried a little louder.

"Come on Lance wake up!"

"Keith. It's too early. What could you possibly need from me?" Lance grumbled, laying onto his back and throwing an arm over his face.

"Just take me out of this _cage_ and I'll take care of the rest myself," Keith huffed. 

"Wha-? oh right." Lance groaned and sat up, "Can we make this quick because it's still like 4 more hours until I need to be up."

"You can go back to sleep as soon as I'm out of here." Keith heard the bars whoosh open and the room lit up dimly as Lance hit something on the crib. The side lowered enough that Keith could climb over it, but Lance picked him up instead. 

"Is a change all you need?" Lance asked as he felt Keith's diaper, much to his embarrassment, and put Keith down on his bed to go get what he needed from the bathroom. 

"...I'm really hungry too." Keith answered when Lance came back with a clean diaper and some wipes. 

"I'm not surprised," Lance motioned for Keith to lay back on the bed, and Keith hesitated.

"Just let me do it Keith, please," Lance said tiredly.

Keith didn't like it but he laid back and just let Lance change him. The sooner this was over the sooner he could get something to eat. He tried to ignore the feeling and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch. 

"Wait here," Lance said as he cleaned up. Keith sat up on the bed and tried to protest that he could get it himself, but Lance ignored him and slipped out the door. 

While he waited, Keith moved back to sit against the wall on the bed. He wondered what Lance would bring him since the goo had upset his stomach so badly. It never did that when he was normal, though sometimes he felt sick at the thought of having to eat it again like he was sure everyone else on this ship besides Coran did. What time even was it right now? Lance was always the last to come to breakfast; would Shiro be up yet? He didn't really feel tired enough to go back to sleep at this point. 

"Here," Lance returned and shoved a baby bottle into his hands, "Take it or leave it I'm going back to sleep."

Lance climbed back into bed despite Keith still sitting on it and pulled the covers around himself. The lights turned off and it was dark again before he could get a good look at what was in the bottle. Some sort of milk?

Did he really have to drink it out of this? 

Lance had already fallen back asleep and it wasn't worth fighting right now so Keith just started sucking on the bottle. He guessed it wasn't really that much different than drinking from the water pouches, though next time he could take the top off and just drink it like a cup. Whatever it was, it was warm and tasted way better than the goo so he drank nearly all of it. 

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it when he was done, and ended up just setting it at the end of the bed. He could climb over Lance and go see if Shiro was up, or maybe even try to go see red. He better get back to normal soon, before they needed Voltron.

Reason told him it was better to stay put and not get himself in trouble, like when he tried to leave after dinner. Shiro wouldn't have it and give him one of his dad-lectures about safety and worrying everyone again. He laid down next to Lance and pulled the blanket around himself to at least try and get some more sleep. At least Lance had forgotten to put him back in the crib. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith's been coming out of his cage and he's been doing just fine.
> 
> I'm still alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you catch any mistakes and I'll fix them up.
> 
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> 
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